Another pro-life American sentenced to prison for peaceful protest
A pro-life American was sentenced on Wednesday to six months in prison for protesting abortion in March 2021.
A peaceful protest
Cal Zastrow is one of 11 protesters who were charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which makes it a felony “to use force with the intent to injure, intimidate and interfere with anyone” who provides abortion services.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the group protested at the Carafem Health Center Clinic in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee on March 5, 2021. They reportedly sang hymns, prayed, and at one point blocked the doorway. No one was injured.
During his sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Zastrow declared that “children are a blessing from God” and read passages from the Bible. Judge Aleta Trauger made it known she was not impressed by Zastrow’s “religious fervor” and said she did not need a sermon.
Judge Trauger sentenced Zastrow to six months in prison, though she imposed no fine. He must self-report to a detention facility by October 1st.
The DOJ also brought a lawsuit seeking a monetary award against Zastrow for a separate peaceful protest at a Florida abortion facility in 2022, The Tennessee Star reported.
A crackdown on life
Zastrow is the latest victim of a frenzied crackdown by the Biden administration on pro-life taxpayers.
In May, 75-year-old Paulette Harlow was sentenced to two years in prison, also for violating the FACE Act, after she participated in a protest at an abortion center in Washington, DC in 2020. After the sentencing, federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly taunted Harlow, who suffers from health issues. The judge told her to “make an effort to remain alive” in prison because that is a “tenet of [Harlow’s] religion.”
Harlow was one of 11 others who were recently sentenced to prison for protesting at an abortion center. Harlow’s co-defendant, Lauren Handy, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison and three years of supervised release.
That same month, the DOJ brought a lawsuit against seven pro-life taxpayers and their organizations, Red Rose Rescue and Citizens for a Pro-Life Society. The complaint accused the defendants of violating the FACE Act.
Raiding families’ homes
The DOJ also appears to make a point of raiding the homes of pro-life Americans who have many children. One of Zastrow’s fellow protesters, Paul Vaughn, is a father of 11 children. The FBI arrested him by raiding his home at gunpoint in front of his children.
In another instance, over 15 FBI agents converged on the house of Mark Houck, a pro-life father of seven, in an early morning in September 2021. They pounded on the door with their guns drawn and shouted for him to come out. He was arrested and charged for violating the FACE Act.
Disregarding pro-abortion terrorism
In the meantime, the Biden administration has been turning a blind eye to domestic terrorists who attack pro-life Americans and centers.
Pro-abortion groups launched a wave of violence immediately after a draft of the US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was leaked on May 2, 2022. The court ruled that states, not the federal government, should have the power to permit or prohibit abortions. The ruling effectively overturned Roe v. Wade.
Within 24 hours of the draft being leaked, pro-abortion domestic terror groups like Jane’s Revenge and Ruth Sent Us declared “war” on pro-life Americans. They began attacking pregnancy centers — facilities which help women give birth instead of committing feticide — and demanded that all pro-life groups disband within 30 days. Ruth Sent Us instructed activists to storm Catholic churches during Mass and vowed to”burn the Eucharist.” Jane’s Revenge claimed credit for setting fire to Wisconsin Family Action, a pro-life center in Madison, Wisconsin.
Five arrests for 90 violent attacks
Since then, there have been at least 90 such attacks on pro-life Americans, according to a report by Catholic Vote. These have included firebombings, arson, destruction, and vandalism. Some pregnancy centers had their locks glued so that staff could not enter the premises. Employees at other centers had their cars keyed. In one instance, an 84-year-old woman was shot while distributing pro-life materials. Two elderly men were badly beaten while protesting outside an abortion facility.
There have only been about five reported arrests made in connection with those attacks and the FBI did not issue a public request for information until six months into the wave of violence.
